"she didn't like it when her fanbelt shrunk and got shorter -- ointment!"

It's normal, or so I understand, to take life lessons away from horrible circumstances. I suppose I have the one lesson to keep close and nurture: one really shouldn't sneak into ladies' bedrooms at night.

It was all innocuous, at least to begin with. I escorted my friend Danielle, visiting from the capital, to a show one spring evening. Danielle can be quite the cudgel to the eyes, if you understand me. She's just a bit taller than one would expect, with black hair just past her shoulders, and the sort of ringing laugh that sets many men's hearts to twisting and leaping in the chest cavity. The air was pleasant that evening, with just a lacing of the scents of coming summer twisted into the breeze flowers, heat, and the drifting nasal hint of loads of people emerging from their winter slumbers to caper in the streets. Well, it's in a figurative manner, the capering.